Where is a solid yellow line indicating places prohibiting stopping and parking?

Explanation

At the edge of the carriageway or on top of the kerb.

The solid yellow line — the one shown in the picture as a continuous, unbroken line — marks the places where stopping and parking are prohibited. There are two possible positions for it: it is drawn either at the edge of the carriageway or on the upper edge of the kerb beside the street. Both cases have equal validity, and the absence of one does not mean the prohibition is invalid.

The reason for this flexibility is practical: on streets with a tall, continuous kerb, paint on the kerb survives snow, mud and car tyres better and is visible from further away; where the kerb is not suitable, the line is applied on the asphalt itself, at the edge of the carriageway.

Worth memorising, and the exam trap: a solid yellow line is never drawn in the middle of the carriageway between traffic lanes; separating directions and lanes is the job of white markings. Yellow at the edge means "do not stop here". Its counterpart is the broken yellow line, which prohibits only parking and leaves a brief stop permitted; do not confuse solid with broken.

• "On the carriageway" is the place for the white markings that separate traffic lanes; the yellow stopping-prohibition line is never applied in the middle of the carriageway. • "Only at the edge of the carriageway" is half the answer and removes the common case of applying this line on the kerb. • "Only on the kerb" is the other half of the answer; on streets without a suitable kerb, this same line is drawn at the edge of the carriageway and is fully valid.

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